AD #2297 – Peugeot Reveals The 508, Congress Wants to Open New VW Probe, Will Lincoln Introduce a Performance Car?

On today’s show…Congress wants to open a new probe into Volkswagen’s diesel emission cheating…Peugeot takes the wraps of the new 508 sedan…and will Lincoln ever introduce a performance vehicle? All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

FORD PROMOTES KUMAR GALHOTRA
A day after firing its President of North America, Ford has announced a replacement for Raj Nair. Kumar Galhotra, currently Ford’s Chief Marketing Officer and the head of the Lincoln brand, will take over the position on March 1st. The Chairman and CEO of the Ford Motor Credit Company, Joy Falotico, will take over Galhotra’s positions at the company. Kumar Galhotra is our guest on Autoline This Week and we’ll have a preview of that interview later in the show, so stick around for that.

TAKATA REACHES $650 MILLION SETTLEMENT
Airbag maker Takata is still paying for its faulty airbags that have led to at least 22 deaths worldwide. The company just reached a $650 million settlement with 44 states, who were investigating whether or not the company concealed the airbag issues and failed to disclose the defects. However, the states won’t collect most of that money due to Takata’s financial problems and bankruptcy. The states want the victims to recover as much as they can from the company’s remaining funds.

CONGRESS WANTS TO OPEN NEW VW PROBE
And speaking of automotive scandals, Volkswagen isn’t in the clear yet over its diesel emission cheating. Bloomberg reports that Congress will likely open a new probe into VW, to find out if high level executives were aware of the cheating. California representative Darrell Issa says Congress could seek testimony from VW and Porsche executives as soon as April and he finds it troubling that no German executives have been convicted in the case. So far VW has paid $30 billion worldwide in fines and recalls over the scandal but that amount will likely grow since its still dealing with investor and consumer lawsuits in the U.S. and Germany.

Still to come…Peugeot reveals the new 508.

PEUGEOT REVEALS THE 508
SUVs are growing in popularity the world over, but Peugeot hopes to grab some of the sedan market back with the introduction of the all-new 508. It’s lower than the outgoing model and features styling cues from its most recent concept car, the Instinct, which is highlighted by the Saber Tooth LED daytime running lights and rear tail lamps. The interior is very modern looking and I especially like how the thin brushed aluminum air vents help accentuate the width of the dash. There’s a fairly wide range of gasoline and diesel engines to choose from, most of which are mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. The entry level diesel engine is only mated to a 6-speed manual. The new 508 goes on sale in September and a plug-in hybrid version will follow in 2019.

MINI TO BUILD EVs IN CHINA
China is making a big push towards electrification and BMW will be expanding its EV presence in the country. The automaker just signed a letter of intent with Great Wall Motor to set up a joint venture to build electric MINIs in China. The next steps will be to work out the details of the joint venture, pick a production site and determine who will invest what. If you’re wondering, BMW already has a joint venture in China with Brilliance and says it has no plans to set up an additional sales organization in the region. The move to build electric MINIs in China does not change its plans to do the same at its plant in Oxford starting in 2019.

Coming up next, will Lincoln ever introduce a performance vehicle? We’ll take a look into that, right after this.

WILL LINCOLN INTRODUCE A PERFORMANCE VEHICLE?
Pretty much every luxury company has a performance car or division but there’s one notable exception, Lincoln. On Autoline This Week, we’re joined by the newly appointed President of Ford North America, Kumar Galhotra, and he was asked if Lincoln has any plans to introduce performance vehicles. Here’s what he had to say.

(The ATW preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)

If you want to learn more about Lincoln’s strategy to grow the brand, you can watch that entire discussion right now on Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.